Welcome back to what we hope will be another exciting year at Green Meadow. We want to make this year as successful as previous years have been and our continued aim is to improve on our high standards across all of school life. To do this we will have to carry on challenging each other, our pupils and, at times, some parents to ensure that we share the same aspirations and expectations. Please continue to support us as a whole school community. It is the only way to get the best for your child(ren).

NEWCOMERS TO GREEN MEADOW It has been another great start to the new year and all the children and staff have settled well. Welcome to all our Reception children and new starters across school. We are pleased to have Miss Sutherland in Year 5 and Miss Batsford in Year 4 alongside the return of Mrs Bestwick, Miss Franklin and Mrs Stringfellow. We trust that all of those new (and returning) to school will enjoy their time here and thrive in our school community.

SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PRODUCTIONS Over the years a tradition has built up whereby performances of each production (i.e. Infant and Junior) has been presented for parents. This opportunity will continue this year. This organisation enables parents to make arrangements for babies / toddlers so that they are cared for while they watch one performance. So that there is no misunderstanding and to give maximum notification to all parents we will not be able to allow children under 5 into any of the performances and we would ask that no Infant aged children attend the Junior productions as all infants will view this show separately. We do hope that you understand this policy and support us in providing the best possible conditions for parents to enjoy the show. Please ensure that you receive a copy of our November Christmas Production letter. This will be sent out in mid November with all the relevant details of the production on it. Please check bags at this time to ensure that you do not miss this opportunity. To aid this process we will continue sending one letter per child.

UNIFORM / DRESS CODE Thank you for sending the children into school looking so immaculate in their uniforms. They look so distinctively smart, and are a credit to you all. In an effort to minimize the amount of lost property we do ask that all items of clothing are clearly marked with your child’s name. If any items are lost, this simple strategy allows us to return such items to their owner. May I also remind parents that no jewellery (rings, earrings, bracelets etc) or nail varnish is allowed in school. Whilst stud earrings are reluctantly allowed, they MUST be removed for P.E. lessons and school assumes no responsibility for these items. Please note that the school dress code (as agreed by the Governing Body) insists on SENSIBLE SCHOOL SHOES. Black trainers are NOT shoes and cannot be worn as a replacement for them. Due to the layout of the building the junior girls need to ensure that heels are of an appropriate height (no higher than 5cm/2 inches preferably lower). Children can wear jogging trousers and a tracksuit top for outdoor PE in winter months. (This doesn’t have to be different jogging items from the outdoor learning kit). We actively encourage the Y1 –6 children to bring trainers or spare pumps to school to wear at lunchtimes so that they can use the spaces and equipment e.g. Trimtrack and climbing frame. Please ensure that your child’s dress code conforms with these guidelines and are appropriate to wear when using outdoor equipment. Thank you for your co-operation.

01/15-16 11th September 2015

Dear Parents,

Buildings Update Thank you to Mr Rose and his team of cleaners who have ensured that the school was ready and welcoming on Monday for our pupils.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Please find a list of dates relevant to the Autumn Term 2015 enclosed in this newsletter. Please retain this sheet for your information.

Thank you for your continued support and encouragement. H. Setchell Headteacher

YEAR 6 LEAVERS The Local Authority have informed us that all preference forms need to be completed online before 31st October 2015. You can access the site on : www.secondarysubmissionform@birmingham.gov.uk. The main advantages of this option are cited as being ease of use, a 24/7 facility and you are emailed school allocations at a date before they are mailed out by letter.

FRIENDS OF GREEN MEADOW The ‘Friends’ do a fantastic job both in terms of providing social events and in raising large sums of money for the school. This allows for many ‘extras’ to be provided free to all pupils e.g. theatre groups, music days, playground equipment and Christmas expenses for parties and gifts. Raising money does take effort and often this falls on the shoulders of the few. We do need extra parents to join the Friends committee so that our traditions can be maintained. The FOGM will be in school on the Parents’ Evening night Wednesday 30th September. Please get in touch with them then about how you can become involved.

ASSEMBLIES The children and staff work very hard to provide a very high standard in our Assemblies. These occasions provide for a communal experience so we invite any family members to join us on Tuesday (Juniors) or Friday (Infants) mornings at 9.00 a.m. We asked for parental support last year in not leaving before the end of the assembly as this was very disruptive to the event. This proved to be generally successful and we would like this practice to continue. If you have to leave early then I would be grateful if you contact me beforehand and we will designate a place near the door so as to minimise any disruption. This will only be done on a limited basis as we expect parents to stay. It would also be appreciated if ALL mobile phones are switched off during these events. Please join me for a tea/coffee after both parental assemblies as this is a great opportunity to continue developing a parental focus group. Thank you for your support in this matter.

Fire Drill Procedures Last year we successfully practised both our Fire Drill and Critical Incident Procedures. If you arrive on site with your child(ren) and the front office Reception Area door is wide open it means that a drill is in progress. A sign will also be displayed. If this happens then please walk back to the main gates and wait there with your child until the office staff are back inside school. Thank you.

Site Security The school site gates will be closed from 4.45 p.m. after extra curricular clubs have finished. Please do not attempt to drive onto the school site when collecting children from after school curriculum clubs as pupils’ safety is a priority. CCTV 24 hr Monitoring The CCTV system continues to support school security. Images are being recorded over each 24 hours and monitored for the purpose of crime prevention, public safety and safeguarding. They will only be viewed if an incident occurs. Thank you for your support.

E-SAFETY Here at Green Meadow we take e-safety very seriously. Our policy is underpinned with regular assemblies and class discussions with pupils, outlining how to keep them safe. We subscribe to the local authority’s ‘filtering’ system to support us in this matter. Children use the internet in a variety of ways at home and we would encourage you to always monitor your child(ren)’s use of the computer especially when using social networking, You Tube and games. Please find enclosed a copy of our ‘Keep Safe Online’ leaflet.

Our School Mission Statement "At Green Meadow we aim to provide a nurturing learning environment that develops children's self

confidence and empowers them to reach their personal and educational potential."

GREEN MEADOW PRIMARY SCHOOL

Green Meadow Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham, B29 4EE Tel: 0121 475 4505 Fax: 0121 476 8254

Miss H. Setchell—Head Teacher

www.greenmeadowprimaryschool.org enquiry@greenmeadow.bham.sch.uk

French Day French day was on July 8th. We all wore red, white and blue which are the colours of the French flag. We got to try “pain au chocolat”, croissants and Orangina for our French breakfast. In the morning we did a trail around school. We worked in pairs to answer French questions and then we held our iPads up to a QCode on the wall. The QCode “spoke” to our iPad and told us where to go next! It was really clever! We also had a workshop where we heard Goldilocks and the Three Bears in French. I had an amazing day. By Toby 5S

Day Year group

Time Run by / Dismissed by

Mon

Yr 5/6 Hockey (1st Half Term) Basket Ball (2nd Half Term)

3.30 – 4.30 pm Steps 2 Sport / Mr Nightingale

Yr 3 - 6 Recorder

3.30 – 4.30 pm Mrs Moore

Yr 3 -6 Guitar 3.30 – 4.30 pm Mr White

Yr 1 /2 Dance 3.30-4.30 pm Dance Coach/Miss Bulmer

Tues

Yr 4/5/6 Change 4 Life

3.30 – 4.30 pm Steps2Sport / Mrs Teeling

Yr 3 / 4 Gymnastics 3.30 – 4.30 pm Sports Plus coach/ Mrs Sadiq

Yr5/6 Football Team Training

3.30 – 4.30 pm Mr Hickey

Wed

Yr 3/4 Football 3.30 – 4.30 pm Steps2sport coach / Miss Wall

Yr 1/2 Multi Skills 3.30 – 4.30 pm Sports Plus coach/Mrs Jones

Fri Yr 3 – 6 Recorder 3.30 – 4.30 pm Mrs Moore

PARENT / TEACHER DISCUSSIONS May I remind parents that at the start of the school day (post 8.50 a.m.), teachers’ priorities are the children in class. No teacher will be able to spend time dealing with issues during this crucial time. If an appointment for after school is NEEDED then please ring the school office for a mutually convenient time. Miss Setchell, Miss Arrowsmith, Mrs Cross and Mrs Hammond are present on the Junior / Infant playgrounds in the morning and all teachers are available after school. STAFFING STRUCTURE

Our school is organised into years and phases. Please follow the process outlined below if you need advice: 1) In all instances, initial concerns should be addressed to the class teacher either by letter, phone or a meeting. 2)If further support is needed then parents should contact the Year Group Leader by one of the above methods. Year Group Leaders: Reception Unit—Mrs Stringfellow (M/T/W) Miss Franklin (Th/F) Year One—Mrs Jones Year Two—Mrs McNickle-Edwards Year Three—Mrs Bestwick (M/T/W) Miss Wall (Th / F) Year Four—Miss White Year Five—Mrs Doherty Year Six—Miss Boulton 3) Mrs Bestwick, Mrs McNickle-Edwards and Miss Boulton take a lead on Teaching and Learning in school so they can be contacted if necessary. 4)Any further concerns remaining should then be addressed with the Deputy / Assistant Head and then the Head Teacher. Acting Assistant Head / SENCO—Mrs Cross Acting Deputy Head—Miss Arrowsmith Head Teacher—Miss Setchell

SCHOOL MEALS SERVICE INFORMATION A reminder for all parents Each Thursday we can provide an adult meal for any

parent/family member for £3.15. Why not join your son/daughter for a school meal? All we ask is that you pre-book this meal on the previous Monday in the usual way i.e. envelope marked with the name of adult / sum enclosed and ‘Adult School Meal’ on Thursday (and dated). Please note that there is a limit on the number of adults that we can cater for on these occasions.

Break time snacks are sold for the following prices Toast—15p Raisins—20p Milk—30 p Fresh Fruit—20p Fruit Juice—30p Children in KS2 buy their snacks from the kitchen and

children in KS1 buy their snacks on the infant playground. Junior School meal prices are at £2.10 per day (£10.50

per week). Cheques are acceptable and any parents wishing to pay for periods of more than one week should speak to Mrs Johnson in the school office (mornings only). All cheques should be made payable to ‘Citiserve’.

NATIONAL FRUIT SCHEME This is a reminder to all parents that each Infant aged pupil (Reception—Year 2) will receive one piece of fruit each day free of charge. The sequence for example may be apple, pear, satsuma, banana, apple, carrots from Monday to Friday. We do encourage parents not to send any tuck beyond this allocation. Do try to support this excellent initiative which will help promote a healthy diet for our pupils.

Celebration of the Queen’s long reign—Wednesday 9th September 2015 The children enjoyed the celebration on Wednesday to mark the longest reign of a British Monarch for Queen Elizabeth II. She has been Queen for over 63 years. They listened carefully to the special assembly and enjoyed the patriotic lunch and the party food. What have you found out about the Queen? Tell us about it.

MATHS CLUB BADGES I would like to remind parents that any one is eligible to try for the Maths Club Badges that we have in school. This is a voluntary activity whereby each child/parent may attempt 10 mental maths sums in ten minutes (10 club badge) building up in incremental parts to 209 problems in 12 minutes (209 club badge). We provide the successful pupils with a badge - all we ask is that they wear them on a daily basis. Please support us by checking that this is happening within this year. We would also encourage parents to have a go at joining these clubs by trying the test most appropriate to their confidence.

‘WATER IS COOL INITIATIVE’ Just a reminder that for many years now we have supplied each pupil with water at the beginning of each school day. Children who finish the bottle are allowed, indeed encouraged, to refill their own bottles during the day. Research has proven that drinking water helps pupils’ concentration and reduces sluggishness, especially in warm classrooms. We are happy to be able to inform you that we have continued to provide this facility for our pupils during the forthcoming academic year. Please encourage your child to get into the good habit of drinking at least one litre of water throughout their day.

HOME LEARNING Home learning is one of the many ways we work together to strengthen the home—school partnership and support our children to pursue a love of learning. It allows them to practise skills at home and share their learning and understanding with you. In response to the feedback we have had from parents and children, home learning will alternate weekly between being a topic based activity from their home learning jour-nal and either an English or Maths based activity which will support children’s learning in school. Home learning journals will come home next Friday with the home learning activities which are linked to year group topics inside the front cover. On the first page are guidelines to support the children in maintaining high expectations with their writing and presentation. All of the details relating to your child’s home learning along with their weekly spellings can be found on the school website every Friday. Children will be asked to bring their learning journals into school on a Thursday and the teacher or teaching assistant will sign the home learning diary weekly. At the end of each term, children who have completed home learning each week will be awarded a certificate. Many thanks and enjoy your home learning. Please see your child’s class teacher if you have any questions / comments.

Miss Arrowsmith

CAR PARKING Despite our pleas to parents to drive and park responsibly, we still have incidents involving cars and children. Cars should be parked appropriately: not double parked, nor on pavements. Please leave enough time to get to school to park safely and on time. We do not want any Green Meadow pupils to be unnecessarily hurt; your actions can prevent this from happening. Please consider these issues when deciding when and how you will get to school. The Police Community Officers patrol the roads around the school and have a zero tolerance policy to illegal parking and dangerous driving. Please phone 101 to report an incident to the police with a note of the vehicle’s registration number.

END OF DAY PROCEDURES To help support the dismissal of the children at the end of the day please stand back from the doors/gates. On the Junior playground parents have always stood on the netball pitch, well behind the television screen. Please let your class teacher know if you have agreed with your child a place to wait on the school site so that school is aware of your plan and you acknowledge pick up of your child(ren). It would be really helpful if you could write to your class teacher informing them of any arranged ‘Afterschool club days’ so that school is aware of this organisation. Year 3 pupils exit via the school hall on the other side of the bike shed. Thank you for your support.

SAFEGUARDING If you have any concerns regarding the safeguarding of children outside of school please contact the Birmingham Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub on 0121 303 1888. For school related matters Miss Setchell and other Senior Leaders are the appointed Designated Leads. We follow procedures lad down by the Birmingham Safeguarding Children’s Board. Please contact the school office for any further information.

VALUABLE ITEMS May we remind parents that under no circumstances should any valuable items be brought into school. The school cannot take responsibility for any item that is either lost, damaged or stolen. The safest thing to do is not bring any such items into school. A guiding principle must be “Will I be upset if something happens to this item?” If the answer is “yes” then please leave it at home.

TOPIC DAYS Below is a list of Topics for each year group from Yr 1—6 and the dressing up theme for the Topic day.

Topic Topic Day Costumes

Ourselves / Toys 05.11.2016 Dress up as a toy / Disney character.

The Great Fire of London

09.11.2016 Bakers. Maids, Fire-fighters or someone from King Charles II reign.

Romans

15.10.2016 Roman costume e.g. Gladiators, everyday Romans.

Outdoor Learning -Making Bug Hotels

16.10.2016 Outdoor Learning Kit

Vikings

21.09.2015 Viking warriors or Anglo Saxon peasants.

Settlements (Castles)

14.09.2015 Norman, Medieval castle costume e.g. servant, soldier, nobility, Knights, Princesses

Year

1

2

3

4

5

6

“ I liked how the dining room looked and I thought the assembly was funny.” Kaden 5D

“ I thought the day was good! I like how they set the tables out . I liked the party hats and thought the assembly was funny.” Sienna 5S

“I though the assembly was funny especially when Miss Arrowsmith dressed up as the Queen’s servant who cleans her knickers!” Brooklyn 5D